Tag: Integral thinking

Sightseeing

 

“«Who are the true philosophers you have in mind?» he asked.

«Sightseers of the truth,» I answered.

«That must be right, but what exactly does it mean?» he asked.”
― Plato, The Republic

 

When you go sightseeing what do you look at? Do you look at everything in the guidebook that you clutch like the bible (or perhaps the modern equivalent of the browser on your iPhone? Do you look at the obvious sites, the ones that ‘everyone’ goes to? Perhaps you are adventurous, talking to the people who live in whatever area you are exploring, listening to their word of mouth tales of the hidden treasure, the sites that few see that somehow feel so much more memorable than the standard museums, castles and monuments. Perhaps, if you are like me, you prefer to wander,hang out with the natives and see what only they see.
It seems that when we go exploring reality the same choices present themselves. There are the truths that exist in all the holy books and many choose to just acknowledge those. Then there are those who read more and deeper, looking for the meanings behind the truths, perhaps to discover a bit of what’s hidden beneath the surface. There are other paths as well. Talking to people and discovering the personal takes that only they know, meditating, exploring within and discovering our own connection to truth as well.
Just as in sightseeing, I believe in doing it all, reading, meditating, praying, compassionately knowing people and integrating the experience . Of course sometimes the large monuments are cool as well.
Blessings, G

 

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Flames of CreationFlames of Creation by G A Rosenberg

 

Texture - Color PlayTexture Colour Play by G A Rosenberg

Boundary Disputes

“The simple fact is that we live in a world of conflict and opposites because we live in a world of boundaries. Since every boundary line is also a battle line, here is the human predicament: the firmer one’s boundaries, the more entrenched are one’s battles. The more I hold onto pleasure, the more I necessarily fear pain. The more I pursue goodness, the more I am obsessed with evil. The more I seek success, the more I must dread failure. The harder I cling to life, the more terrifying death becomes. The more I value anything, the more obsessed I become with its loss. Most of our problems, in other words, are problems of boundaries
and the opposites they create.”
― Ken Wilber

 

How do we avoid creating these boundaries? Recently a FaceBook friend of mine dragged me into… er…invited me into a group she was part of. She and I have many philosophical and spiritual interests in common so I was fine with it. I didn’t have the opportunity to investigate it until today and found myself oddly fascinated.
As many of you know, I find it important that  be as open as possible to other belief systems. I jokingly call it the elephant’s path after the story of the seven blind men and the elephant. As Ken Wilber says “Everybody is right” That is everybody has their own part of the truth and the trick is finding the value in each one and integrating it. In this way even if we never gain apprehension of the whole, we can gain greater and greater awareness of what the shape of Ultimate truth may be.
This group purports to teach its members how to end fear. The method seems to be to work hard at ignoring anything that may possibly cause fear. They assert that various religions have caused fear in their followers for centuries so therefore any thoughts of God or gods or religion will only instil fear so they really discourage thinking on those matters. I suppose the same holds true for war and possibly  hurricanes and illness as well. Integrating this one may be very difficult . I can see where starting with a clean board may be productive but very few of us can realistically do this.  When people bring up subjects that violate what they see as productive thought they resort to ridicule and anger. It seems as if in putting up boundaries against the things they feel may instil fear that they have actually become more fearful. Puzzling.

Blessings, G

 

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OfferingOffering by G A Rosenberg

 

Astral CascadeAstral Cascade by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – September 21 2012

“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”
― Marcus Aurelius

We return to the elephant. You remember the one of which the blind men disagreed as to its exact nature.( Quote of the Day – March 26 2012)  If the blind men were to try to integrate their views of the elephant they would come to a greater understanding of its nature just as each individual view of reality we are able to integrate with our own can bring deeper understanding. I had an interesting discussion this evening about the above quote.  I want to write it as if it was instead had by the blind men.

Blind Man 1: To me this elephant is like a tree trunk. What is it like to you?

Blind Man 2: We know the elephant exists and that is enough. Our true selves know the nature of it.

Blind Man 1: That is true but how does that further our understanding here and now. If you tell me what the elephant seems like to you, perhaps by looking at both, we can gain greater understanding.

Blind Man 2: The elephant only has whatever meaning we give it.

Blind Man 3: WTF?

It’s not so much that I disagree with Blind Man 2 just that his point of view does not seem helpful in terms of living life to the highest degree of truth possible. Nor does it help promote empathy towards the experience of the other blind men. It occurs to me often that many of the problems that our world faces today comes from lack of empathy and compassion (the ability to step in another’s footsteps).

Blessings, G

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Red-Gold Galaxy by G A Rosenberg

Blue-Red Mandala by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – April 18 2012

“Inevitably anyone with an independent mind must become ‘one who resists or opposes authority or established conventions’: a rebel. If enough people come to agree with, and follow, the Rebel, we now have a Devil. Until, of course, still more people agree. And then, finally, we have — Greatness.”
― Aleister Crowley

 

I’ve always questioned. It’s in my nature. Friends and relatives use to laugh at me jumping between beliefs and systems. Really I wanted to experience each one. Part of it was a desire to understand both myself and the universe better. What I call now pursuit of the elephant and what others call Integral Thinking. One of the things I’ve come to realize tho is that whenever I reach a point where I feel sure I have found the answer or even an answer, that’s the time to question the most. Even if I continue with more questions than answers they make the journey a lot more interesting.
Blessings, G

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Cry Me a River by G A Rosenberg

Containing Worlds by G A Rosenberg